{"id":13948,"date":"2013-12-17T21:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T02:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=13948"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:12:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:12:59","slug":"the-streisand-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=13948","title":{"rendered":"The Streisand Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton \"16<\/a>posting from Chattanooga, Tennessee <\/em>\u2013 Streisand has been sitting on my shoulder for two days now. Humming that song she made famous. Memories. <\/em>You know. The way we were. Memories. (That light the corners of your mind<\/em>.) The minute I saw the Tennessee welcome sign yesterday I was slammed with them; by the time I reached the hotel in Chattanooga I was completely soaked in the past. \u201cThis is your home town,\u201d I said to Alex as I unloaded the car, remembering that day in 1997 when he stuck his head out of the cage at the pound and nuzzled my neck. My heart melted into a puddle right there and then; \u201cGo get a box,\u201d I told the attendant. Alex slept curled on the foot of my bed that night, and has every night since for sixteen years. \u201cI saved your life that day,\u201d I reminded him in a tone, \u201cand thanks to me you have been lucky enough to live in 48 states since you were born in an alley here. So there.\u201d \u201cJust feed me,\u201d he said, sniffing around the room. \u201cNo need for drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"16<\/a>My dear Brenda was a little more patient with me as I told story after story during our evening touchpoint visit. She and friend Phyllis were traveling from Florida to Virginia; we worked it out to meet in Chattanooga for one night as we passed going in different directions. As soon as they arrived I jumped into show-off mode. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to go downtown,\u201d I insisted, \u201cso you can see the waterfront.\u201d Brenda\u2019s Mike (my first-born son) grew up here, but she was unfamiliar with the town. She drove. I pointed. \u201cI used to work in that building!\u201d \u201cWe celebrated Rick\u2019s seventh birthday in that restaurant!\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s the Walnut Street Bridge, it\u2019s a park now!\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s the hotel where my Mom and Dad had their honeymoon in 1937!\u201d They peered and squinted in the dark, but just like the cats, finally insisted that we eat.<\/p>\n

\"16<\/a>We settled on the Bluewater Grille, an upscale place located downtown just a block from the fabulous Aquarium, which has doubled in size since I lived here. Our server good-naturedly put up with us as we clowned our way through dinner, winding up with pictures by the tree. Outside in the chilly evening air, we wandered Chattanooga in the dark. The windows at the giant TVA complex were decorated to the hilt; but everything else had a Monday-night closing-early look; the Chattanooga Choo Choo was not lit up; Porkers BarBQ, where George Bush lunched one day, was already closed. \u201cPig out at Porkers. We won\u2019t squeal!\u201d promised the sign in the window. I directed Brenda to drive through the University of Tennessee campus (Chattanooga branch); it\u2019s my alma mater. Sons Mike and Rick went to school there too; I was teaching there by then. We passed First Centenary Church, where son Scott was an acolyte, \"17<\/a>and son Rick sang in the choir. We passed the Taco Bell, where son Mike got his first high-school job frying taco shells, which strangely led to a career in finance. Memories.<\/em><\/p>\n

This morning after loving on the cats and the obligatory poses by the car, Brenda and Phyllis continued their journey north. Brenda, a DC native, had tickets to tour the White House; she was surprising her grandson Michael with an early Christmas treat. But I was doing a \u201cBetty Day.\u201d Betty Harrelson has been my friend since 1968 when she moved into the house across the street from me. Our kids grew up together; in later years, after I\u2019d moved away, we regularly compared notes on grandkids and laughed together over family joys, and woes (and still do). Betty is the best story-teller I know, with a Eudora Welty-Bailey White comedic southern style. But her real love is painting. Her house is filled with her art; her studio has future projects stacked; ideas are thumbtacked\u00a0on the wall. When I wrote \"Linda97BookstoreBetty\"<\/a>Chattanooga Great Places<\/em>, Betty designed the cover. What a thrill it was to do booksignings together, and have our picture spread across a quarter-page of the newspaper, praising our accomplishment! (photo left 1997)<\/em> \u00a0Memories.<\/em><\/p>\n

Betty and Reuben still live in that neighborhood; when I stopped in front of their house this\u00a0afternoon I looked across the street at my old house to make sure \u2013 yes, it is still there, the basketball goal we installed by the garage door, imbedded in cement in 1969. All the neighborhood kids played there, laughing uproariously when one missed a shot and had to chase the ball down the steep hill just beyond the drive. It made for more careful ball handling! Our cats \u2013 dear Buffy and Fluffy — loved to hunt the woods out back, delivering birds and snakes on a regular basis. \"17<\/a>They even brought a mangled rabbit once; a Christmas gift of entrails and fur placed like an offering by the back door. Buffy and Fluffy, long since dead and gone. Memories<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What did we talk about today? Our children, of course \u2013 Karen, Martin, Angie, Margie, Mike, Rick, Scott. And our grandchildren; we have fourteen between us. All the people who lived in the neighborhood way back when; who has died, and who has not. The Journey<\/em>, and the fact that I was headed for Arkansas and yet another new place to live. Our disdain for cell phones, and the current addiction young folks have for texting. Our health. Betty has two new knees; she walks pain-free now. (I\u2019m envious.) Reuben uses a cane to get around; they are considering a chair lift to get them safely downstairs to the laundry room, and garage. We have gotten old, it seems. Betty\u2019s daughter \"Betty.Linda.40YearsAgo.CampCherokee\"<\/a>Karen told me recently via email that she loved seeing us all dressed up to go out, back in those 70s days. \u201cI thought you were so glamorous!\u201d she said. Well heck, I guess we were. Slender blonds with sexy legs. (photo left 1972<\/em>) \u00a0Memories.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you remember the last lines of that tear-jerking Streisand tune? If we had the chance to do it all again\u2026would we?\u00a0<\/em>Back in my room tonight, with Alex and Jack stretched out beside me on the blankie, I considered that thought. Chattanooga holds my most profound memories; it\u2019s where I blossomed. It\u2019s where I was madly in love (and where I was not). It\u2019s where I learned how to run a business. It\u2019s where my writing first brought me an income. I wrote for the massive TVA, Combustion Engineering, Hensley-Schmidt, Tennessee-American Water Company, smaller businesses too. I wrote a weekly column for the Chattanooga Times<\/em> (founded by Adolph Ochs, you know, who went on to found the New York Times<\/em>). I wrote and published books \u2013 guidebooks Chattanooga Great Places<\/em> and SE Great Trips<\/em>; Ginny Power\u2019s memoirs Ginny\u2019s Chairs<\/em>; Tee Carr\u2019s book on teaching All Eyes Up Here<\/em>, and more. Chattanooga is where my kids grew up, and where four of my grandkids were born. Chattanooga is where twelve-year-old son Scott brought a map to me one day with the complaint that he\u2019d never been west of the Mississippi River. That was the event that started us traveling, and exploring the USA.<\/p>\n

Would I do it all again?\u00a0No, it\u2019s perfect just the way it\u2019s going. Next stop: Alabama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Chattanooga, Tennessee \u2013 Streisand has been sitting on my shoulder for two days now. Humming that song she made famous. Memories. You know. The way we were. Memories. (That light the corners of your mind.) The minute I saw the Tennessee welcome sign yesterday I was slammed with them; by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4587],"tags":[2977,2973,2985,2979,2969,2970,2976,2974,2972,2978,2980,2971,2981,2975,2234,2982],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13948"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14005,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948\/revisions\/14005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}